Geography of Canada
The geography of Canada describes the geographic features of Canada, the world's second largest country in total area. Situated in northern North America (constituting 41% of the continent's area), Canada spans a vast, diverse territory between the North Pacific Ocean to the west and the North Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Arctic Ocean to the north (hence the country's motto "From sea to sea"), with the United States to the south (contiguous United States) and northwest (Alaska). Greenland is to the northeast; off the southern coast of Newfoundland lies Saint Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas collectivity of France. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude to the North Pole; however, this claim is contested. While the magnetic North Pole lies within the Canadian Arctic territorial claim as of 2011, recent measurements indicate it is moving towards Siberia. Covering 9,984,670 km2 or 3,855,100 sq mi, Canada is slightly less than three-fifths as large as Russia and slightly smaller than Europe. In total area, Canada is slightly larger than both the U.S. and China; however, Canada ranks fourth in land area (i.e. total area minus the area of lakes and rivers)—China is 9,326,410 km2 (3,600,950 sq mi) and the U.S. is 9,161,923 km2 (3,537,438 sq mi). The population of Canada, 35,151,728 as of May 10, 2016, is concentrated in the south close to its border with the contiguous U.S.; with a population density of 3.5 people per square kilometers (9.1/sq mi), it is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. The northernmost settlement in Canada—and in the world—is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert (just north of Alert, Nunavut) on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island at 82°30′N 62°19′W, just 834 kilometres (518 mi) from the North Pole. Climate Canada has a diverse climate. The climate varies from Mediterranean on the west coast of British Columbia to a subarctic climate in the north. Extreme northern Canada can have snow for most of the year with a Polar climate. Landlocked areas tend to have a warm summer continental climate zone with the exception of Southwestern Ontario which has a hot summer humid continental climate. Parts of Western Canada have a semi-arid climate, and parts of Vancouver Island can even be classified as cool summer Mediterranean climate. Temperature extremes in Canada range from 45.0 °C (113 °F) in Midale and Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan on July 5, 1937 to −63.0 °C (−81.4 °F) in Snag, Yukon on Monday, February 3, 1947. Physical Geography Canada covers 9,984,670 km2 (3,855,100 sq mi) and various geoclimatic regions. Canada also encompasses vast maritime terrain, with the world's longest coastline of 243,042 kilometres (151,019 mi). The physical geography of Canada is widely varied. Boreal forests prevail throughout the country, ice is prominent in northerly Arctic regions and through the Rocky Mountains, and the relatively flat Canadian Prairies in the southwest facilitate productive agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population. Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian mountain range extends from Alabama through the Gaspé Peninsula and the Atlantic Provinces, creating rolling hills indented by river valleys. It also runs through parts of southern Quebec. The Appalachian mountains (more specifically the Chic-Choc Mountains, Notre Dame, and Long Range Mountains) are an old and eroded range of mountains, approximately 380 million years in age. Notable mountains in the Appalachians include Mount Jacques-Cartier (Quebec, 1,268 m or 4,160 ft), Mount Carleton (New Brunswick, 817 m or 2,680 ft), The Cabox(Newfoundland, 814 m or 2,671 ft). Parts of the Appalachians are home to a rich endemic flora and fauna and are considered to have been nunataks during the last glaciation. Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Lowlands The southern parts of Quebec and Ontario, in the section of the Great Lakes (bordered entirely by Ontario on the Canadian side) and St. Lawrence basin (often called St. Lawrence Lowlands), is another particularly rich sedimentary plain. Prior to its colonization and heavy urban sprawl of the 20th century, this Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests area was home to large mixed forests covering a mostly flat area of land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Canadian Shield. Most of this forest has been cut down through agriculture and logging operations, but the remaining forests are for the most part heavily protected. In this part of Canada the Gulf of St. Lawrence is one of the world's largest estuaries. While the relief of these lowlands is particularly flat and regular, a group of batholites known as the Monteregian Hills are spread along a mostly regular line across the area. The most notable are Montreal's Mount Royal and Mont Saint-Hilaire. These hills are known for a great richness in precious minerals. Canadian Shield The northeastern part of Alberta, northern parts of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, as well as most of Labrador (the mainland portions of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador), are located on a vast rock base known as the Canadian Shield. The Shield mostly consists of eroded hilly terrain and contains many lakes and important rivers used for hydroelectric production, particularly in northern Quebec and Ontario. The shield also encloses an area of wetlands, the Hudson Bay lowlands. Some particular regions of the Shield are referred to as mountain ranges, including the Torngat and Laurentian Mountains. The Shield cannot support intensive agriculture, although there is subsistence agriculture and small dairy farms in many of the river valleys and around the abundant lakes, particularly in the southern regions. Boreal forest covers much of the shield, with a mix of conifers that provide valuable timber resources in areas such as the Central Canadian Shield forests ecoregion that covers much of Northern Ontario. The region is known for its extensive mineral reserves. Canadian Prairies The Canadian Prairies are part of a vast sedimentary plain covering much of Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, and southwestern Manitoba, as well as much of the region between the Rocky Mountains and the Great Slave and Great Bear lakes in Northwest Territories. The plains generally describes the expanses of (largely flat) arable agricultural land which sustain extensive grain farming operations in the southern part of the provinces. Despite this, some areas such as the Cypress Hills and the Alberta Badlands are quite hilly and the prairie provinces contain large areas of forest such as the Mid-Continental Canadian forests. The size is roughly ~1,900,000 km2 (733,594.1 sq mi). Rocky Mountains The Canadian Cordillera, contiguous with the American cordillera, is bounded by the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The Canadian Rockies are part of a major continental divide that extends north and south through western North America and western South America. The Columbia and the Fraser Rivers have their headwaters in the Canadian Rockies and are the second and third largest rivers respectively to drain to the west coast of North America. To the west of their headwaters, across the Rocky Mountain Trench, is a second belt of mountains, the Columbia Mountains, comprising the Selkirk, Purcell, Monashee and Cariboo Mountains sub-ranges. Immediately west of the Columbia Mountains is a large and rugged Interior Plateau, encompassing the Chilcotin and Cariboo regions in central British Columbia (the Fraser Plateau), the Nechako Plateau further north, and also the Thompson Plateau in the south. The Peace River Valley in northeastern British Columbia is Canada's most northerly agricultural region, although it is part of the Prairies. The dry, temperate climate of the Okanagan Valley in south central British Columbia provides ideal conditions for fruit growing and a flourishing wine industry; the semi-arid belt of the Southern Interior also includes the Fraser Canyon, and Thompson, Nicola, Similkameen, Shuswap and Boundary regions and fruit-growing is common in these areas also, and also in the West Kootenay. Between the plateau and the coast is the province's largest mountain range, the Coast Mountains. The Coast Mountains contain some of the largest temperate-latitude icefields in the world. On the south coast of British Columbia, Vancouver Island is separated from the mainland by the continuous Juan de Fuca, Georgia, and Johnstone Straits. Those straits include a large number of islands, notably the Gulf Islands and Discovery Islands. North, near the Alaskan border, Haida Gwaii lies across Hecate Strait from the North Coast region and to its north, across Dixon Entrance from Southeast Alaska. Other than in the plateau regions of the Interior and its many river valleys, most of British Columbia is coniferous forest. The only temperate rain forests in Canada are found along the Pacific Coast in the Coast Mountains, on Vancouver Island, and on Haida Gwaii, and in the Cariboo Mountains on the eastern flank of the Plateau. The Western Cordillera continues northwards past the Liard River in northernmost British Columbia to include the Mackenzie and Selwyn Ranges which lie in the far western Northwest Territories and the eastern Yukon Territory. West of them is the large Yukon Plateau and, west of that, the Yukon Ranges and Saint Elias Mountains, which include Canada's and British Columbia's highest summits, Mount Saint Elias in the Kluane region and Mount Fairweather in the Tatshenshini-Alsek region. The headwaters of the Yukon River, the largest and longest of the rivers on the Pacific Slope, lie in northern British Columbia at Atlin and Teslin Lakes. Political Geography Canada is divided into ten provinces and three territories. According to Statistics Canada, 72.0 percent of the population is concentrated within 150 kilometres (93 mi) of the nation's southern border with the United States, 70.0% live south of the 49th parallel, and over 60 percent of the population lives along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River between Windsor, Ontario and Quebec City. This leaves the vast majority of Canada's territory as sparsely populated wilderness; Canada's population density is 3.5 people/km2 (9.1/mi2), among the lowest in the world. Despite this, 79.7 percent of Canada's population resides in urban areas, where population densities are increasing. Canada shares with the U.S. the world's longest undefended border at 8,893 kilometres (5,526 mi); 2,477 kilometres (1,539 mi) are with Alaska. The Danish island dependency of Greenland lies to Canada's northeast, separated from the Canadian Arctic islands by Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. The French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon lie off the southern coast of Newfoundland in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and have a maritime territorial enclave within Canada's exclusive economic zone. Canada also shares a land border with Denmark, as maps released in December 2006 show that the agreed upon boundaries run through the middle of Hans Island. Canada's geographic proximity to the United States has historically bound the two countries together in the political world as well. Canada's position between the Soviet Union (now Russia) and the U.S. was strategically important during the Cold War since the route over the North Pole and Canada was the fastest route by air between the two countries and the most direct route for intercontinental ballistic missiles. Since the end of the Cold War, there has been growing speculation that Canada's Arctic maritime claims may become increasingly important if global warming melts the ice enough to open the Northwest Passage. Similarly, the disputed—and tiny—Hans Island (with Denmark), in the Nares Strait between Ellesmere Island and northern Greenland, may be a flashpoint for challenges to overall claims of Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic. Extreme Points The northernmost point within the boundaries of Canada is Cape Columbia, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut 83.111°N 69.972°W.47 The northernmost point of the Canadian mainland is Zenith Point on Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut 72.002°N 94.655°W. The southernmost point is Middle Island, in Lake Erie, Ontario (41°41′N, 82°40′W); the southernmost water point lies just south of the island, on the Ontario–Ohio border (41°40′35″N). The southernmost point of the Canadian mainland is Point Pelee, Ontario 41.909°N 82.509°W. The westernmost point is Boundary Peak 187 (60°18′22.929″N, 141°00′7.128″W) at the southern end of the Yukon–Alaska border which is roughly following 141°W but leans very slightly east as it goes North 60.301°N 141.010°W. The easternmost point is Cape Spear, Newfoundland (47°31′N, 52°37′W) 47.523°N 52.619°W. The easternmost point of the Canadian mainland is Elijah Point, Cape St. Charles, Labrador (52°13′N, 55°37′W) 52.217°N 55.621°W. The lowest point is sea level at 0 m, whilst the highest point is Mount Logan, Yukon, at 5,959 m / 19,550 ft 60.567°N 140.405°W. The Canadian pole of inaccessibility is allegedly near Jackfish River, Alberta (Latitude: 59°2′ 60 N, Longitude: 112°49′ 60 W). The furthest straight-line distance that can be travelled to Canadian points of land is between the southwest tip of Kluane National Park and Reserve (next to Mount Saint Elias) and Cripple Cove, NL (near Cape Race) at a distance of 3,005.60 nautical miles (5,566.37 km; 3,458.78 mi).